Having read “The Nose” beforehand, I had an understanding of the story. But I did not analyze the story like I did this second time. As I was reading I had a sense of bewilderment because I could not wrap my head around the idea that a nose could talk. This image came to my mind for some reason.
Then when it was pointed out that the Russian word for nose was the same as the Russian word for dream spelled backwards, the story started to make more sense. I could definitely understand this all being a dream since it could be a plausible explanation for almost anything given the infinite possibilities of our dreams.
For Kovaloff, I could picture him without a nose because I watched a lot of anime growing up and in anime every one has a “shovel face,” with a very tiny, almost unnoticeable nose. But the main picture that came to mind when Gogol described Kovaloff’s face was this character from the “Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy”
I also read later that one interpretation of the story was that it centered on castration anxiety. Though this interpretation is not accepted, there are some good reasons supporting it. Kovaloff felt powerless and ashamed when he lost his nose, much like any man would feel. He also felt like he could not talk to women. If I were to lose my penis I would feel the exact same way, and I would think that there is no point in trying to get girls if I lost the very thing that makes me a man. I found that interpretation very interesting.
Right after finishing the story, my thoughts could have been summarized by one word: what?
I was seriously thinking why anyone would write this story. It seemed like it had no purpose but because I was reading it for this class I knew it had to have a deeper meaning. That is why after 5 minutes of thinking I just gave up and looked on the internet.
I was overall mildly entertained by the weirdness of the story. It brought back memories of the one of the better stories I had to read for my Russian literature class.
I think that the castration anxiety interpretation of the story has just as much credibility/legitimacy as the generally accepted interpretation of the nose being a metaphor for social class. You make a good point about how Kovaloff loses his manliness when he loses his nose, similar to how any man would feel less masculine when he loses his penis. So the comparison between the two body parts is valid in my opinion.
On another note, I also had the same reaction after I finished the short story. I thought to myself, “What the hell did I just read?” Like you, I was amused by the story and its weirdness, but I had absolutely no idea why it was written. I mean, there’s a walking nose….
…wut?